


Maybe it's not that bad after all

by Tony777



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7290067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tony777/pseuds/Tony777
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Judy have been hanging for a while, and now it's Nick's turn to decide whether he wants to become a cop or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe it's not that bad after all

Living in this city always left its inhabitants with something. In Nick's case, it had been experiences, lots of them. From all the lessons that it had taught to him, the most important -and the hardest- had been that appearance does matter. It came off this way because everyone had a set of preconceived notions, and on top of being a predator, Nick was a fox. So it wasn't unexpected that life at Wilde's apartment started out long before the sun rose. Not always out of his eagerness to get up -he was a nocturnal creature after all-, but to prepare himself to face the world.

Everything was done with a certain attention to detail. hygiene, especially, had such an importance in his routine that it took a sizable chunk of his morning. For nick, grooming was a ceremony, because it was so hard to get everything right. First off, he combed his fur thoroughly to make sure there were no tangled strands. After making sure it was all smooth, the decision on whether showering or not had to be made. This was a hard one for Nick, as drying was always so much trouble that sometimes it was just not worth it. and to make things worse nobody seemed to notice it at all. But recently this had not been such the case, maybe he had a reason for that, maybe not.

To counter the fact that showering was a lengthy process, Nick had devised a three-step system to do it as fast as possible. After plugging his ears; getting his fur soaked was the first the thing on the list -because his fur was double coated-, he had to make sure water got all the way in. He rubbed his fur thoroughly, ensuring it got all in. After this, Nick massaged himself with a  soap that let out a strong herbal scent. His tail received extra care because usually, it was so close to the ground that sometimes it was more like a rogue broom. Rinsing took a lot  less time than his soapy massage. Nonetheless, he caressed himself with the tenderness only seen in loving couples.

In Zootopia, drying was a whole ordeal apart from showering. Luckily for Nick, his apartment was in what was left of a luxury development. That meant there was a full body dryer for him to use. Despite being an ancient machine it still ran fine, save for the odd tug and slap. At long last, he finished tending to his fur, but he was far from ready.

Everything that had to do with presenting himself to the world was carefully laid out, even if it didn't look that way. For today, he had chosen his a blue shirt, a pair of gray chinos, and his trademark striped tie, those were laid out in a cedar hanger. After getting dressed up, he got up to his kitchen, floorboards creaking under his paws.  His kitchen, albeit on the modest side of things, did the job just fine. Though lately, it just had been protein shake central. As for the last weeks, he had come home just to sleep and shower.

 Finally, Nick felt ready to face the world, along with his satiny smooth fur.

Basking in his newfound confidence, Nick took the elevator down to street level. On his way down, he met Ms. Scott, or what was left of her. Before any thought got trough her, Nick had already opened his mouth.

''Would you just look at what this beautiful morning has brought to us.'' a cheeky grin lighting up his face.

''yeah, good morning, I guess...'' The aging zebra mumbled.

The contempt that her stance radiated was only overshadowed by her resignation.  _How could she have stooped so low that she was now neighbors with a fox? What would the girls at the club say? Who allowed this?_

Nick didn't even like his apartment that much. Even Finnick's van  felt more like a home than his place, but Nick felt this was the best way to stick it to all the animals who looked down on him for being a fox.

The life on the street was starting to stir, and with that, more animals came out of their homes. Luckily for him, the bus stop was only a block away. Once at the stop, he tried calling Finnick to no avail. W _here could this guy have gone?_ Nick thought to himself while boarding the bus.

Once he got into one of the seats, he tried calling again, there still was no answer.  _And now I got to chase you around town? You better buy me lunch,_ Nick sighed,  _at least I haven't seen him getting hauled to the station._ His lamenting got cut by the loud buzzing of the opening doors, with a swift motion, he got off the bus and started looking around this seedy part of town.

After some walking around downtown, Nick caught the glimpse of a horrendous mural.  _At least this monstrosity is here._   As he closed toward Finnick's van, his nose got assaulted with a nauseatingly sweet smell.  When he peeked through the window, he couldn't help but notice that throughout the floor, an assortment of perfume bottles was strewn. There, in one corner of the van, laid Finnick, his body wrapped in a red velvet rug.  _Okay... At least he's breathing. maybe I'll call him later when he's not... indisposed._

Creeping back to the street, Nick couldn't help but wonder what had happened there. He didn't want to know, even in such a state, crossing this guy wasn't a good idea.

Looking at his phone, Nick realized that his detour took a lot less than he expected. This wasn't a bad thing per se, but he didn't feel like going all the way back home; so he did what any other mature adult would do: bother someone else.

Nick reached out to the speed dial and got Judy on the line.

''Judith Laverne Hopps, would you just look at the time!?''Nick squealed into the microphone.

On the other side of the line, a voice inched towards the speaker.

''Nick?  What do you want?''  Judy mumbled.

''Hey, I'm just checking up on my future co-worker. And by the looks of it, she's going to get fired for sleeping way over the clock.....'' The call dropped.

While trying to figure out what just happened, Nick started walking toward downtown.  _Judy's apartment is twenty minutes away from here by foot. Oh well, this beats doing the dishes._

_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - -- - - - - -_

  
A few blocks away, in a diminutive apartment, all hell broke loose.

The instant Judy hung up, she was already dashing out of her room, and into the communal showers at the end of the hallway. There was no time to lose, the clothes strewn along the hall attested that. Almost as fast as she got in, she was already struggling with the dryer. _oh mercy, what button was it? Is this the one that I shouldn't press? I guess I'll have to take my chances_. 

She sprinted back into her room while picking up her trail of clothes, the tips of her ears still sizzling. Once she got in, she started flailing around.  _Cheesus Judy, get it together, where did you leave your badge? Gosh, would you look at the hour..._ A loud thump resonated in her apartment.

Slumped on the floor, Judy was wondering where her life had gone wrong.   _Why did I even answer his call? This dumb fox and his dumb voice..._  Rolling over to her side, she caught her badge glinting under her bed.  _mom would kill me if she saw me like this._

''Hey rabbit! Rabbit, are you dead? A voice erupted from the paper-thin walls.

''If she dies, the cops will close the whole building, THANKS, RABBIT.'' The wall blared 

''Guys, guys, it's alright,I'm still here.'' Judy plopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. 

_What in the world is he doing so early out?_ Judy picked her phone and called Nick.  _he's taking unusually long to answer, I bet he is laughing his tail off._ She huffed.  At first, she didn't notice, but after a second, her ears started picking up something.  _Wait,that sound._ From the hallway, a high pitched sound was closing in. Even the dial tone seemed to synchronize with the now pervasive chime outside; now at her door. There was no doubt from where it was coming.

Judy flung the door open, Nick was there, hand in place to knock.

''Hey carrots'' Nick said, with a startled look on his face.

''And what are you doing here exactly?'' Judy asked, trying to play cool.

''Well, I was around this beautiful neighborhood, and thought it would be nice if I came to say hi.'' Nick's attention trailed off Judy, his eyes now exploring every inch of her apartment

''So this is your house, eh? Looks a little small, don't you think?

Nick tried to let himself in but got stopped by Judy's arm at the frame.

''Are you serious? Why would you do such a thing?'' Judy frowned at Nick.

''Wait, what are you talking about?'' Nick's eyes widened and her jaw slacked a bit.

''She nearly killed herself, while trying to get ready for you.'' The wall blared again.

'''Hey, that's not true! I just got startled when this dumb head started screaming at the phone.'' Judy turned back to reply to the wall.

''Carrots, is the wall implying that you took my call seriously?'' Nick was trying his best not to laugh at this point.

''It's just, that sometimes, loud noises get to me.'' Judy sighed, ''I really thought  I overslept, so I may not have looked at my clock before scrambling to get ready; and when I did, it was already too late.'' Judy tried to hide behind her ears.

Nick was about to laugh when he noticed Judy's look changed. It went from embarrassment to complete anger.

''Wait! since you're already set to go out, how about we go get some breakfast? My treat.'' Nick braced himself.

''All right, but I get to choose where we go'' Judy said

Nick's nonexistent wallet shuddered


End file.
